Video phone kiosk with attractor and proximity sensing

ABSTRACT

A Video Phone Kiosk system for providing audio and video phone calls, video mail, greeting cards, and custom, targeted, income generating advertising as well as establishing a platform for the deployment of additional pay and enhanced services that can be added to the video phone kiosk or customize with expanded service delivery of the video phone kiosk to address specific vertical markets, such as senior citizens, shopping, cultural, social, travel, medical, financial and investments. The advantage over public pay phones and kiosks lies in the fact that the video phone kiosk can generate income on a near continuous basis through the use of additional non-telephony specific pay services and an attractor that displays forms of advertising and entertainment which can be updated remotely and targeted to specific market or demographic.

CROSS REFERENCE APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional application claiming the benefitsof provisional application No. 60/916,169 filed May 4, 2007.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to public pay telephones and kiosks,specifically to phone kiosks that are used in public places to provideaudio only phone calls and possibly an Internet connection for pay fordata services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A problem that exists with currently deployed public pay phones is thatthese devices do not generate money for the owner/operator when thephones are not in use. To make up this shortcoming, an owner of a publicpay phone will try and place a quantity of these devices in high trafficareas where the percentage of use in any time period will be higher thanin places where large numbers of people do not go. Additionally, theowner may attempt to recover expenses by charging higher than normalaccess and per period of time fees to make up for the less frequent useof the phone.

Many existing public pay phones are connected to the analog telephonenetwork, otherwise known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), and thusare limited in the kinds of service that can be provided to a publiccustomer. For example, compared to Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, analogpublic phones can provide many of the business level (CENTREX) functionsthat VoIP phones can provide, but they cannot provide high speed dataservices, such as video, given that POTS line connections are limited to64 kilobits per second (kbs) in either direction. VoIP phones, on theother hand, can be easily connected to network connections which providemuch higher rates of data throughput, thus supporting services likevideo over that connection.

Not all VoIP phones and their connections are capable of supportingvideo. The reasons are many, but can be sufficiently discussed with afew items: A) protocols B) bandwidth C) device hardware support and D)quality of service of both the network connection and the VoIP phoneitself.

Hardware support for video is the most important feature for a VoIPdevice to be able to support any VoIP and/or video stream. VoIP phonesand devices tend to fall into one of four classes: A) Analog TelephoneAdapters (ATA's) B) Audio only VoIP phones, C) Video VoIP phones and D)VoIP soft phones. ATA's provide an analog telephone connection to a POTSphone, while transforming the signal on the other end to a digitalpacket protocol that is compatible with the VoIP Service Provider's(VSP) network that a customer has engaged to make calls over a digitalnetwork, including the Internet, terminating to another POTS or VoIPphone or other communications device. By definition, ATA's will notsupport video streaming, as POTS phones do not. Additionally, ATA's donot come with any hardware that would support a video stream, should itreceive one. This is done primarily as a cost savings measure, inaddition to the fact that with POTS phones it is an unneeded feature.These devices typically are priced very low compared to many dedicated,full featured, VoIP phones, so as to provide the least expensive way fora customer to enjoy the benefits offered by a VSP.

Audio only VoIP phones behave and act like POTS phones with the sameclass of features. The difference lies in the connection. Audio onlyVoIP phones require a digital broadband connection to make and receivetelephone calls. Audio only VoIP phones do have an advantage over theirPOTS counterparts in that they can utilize multiple protocols to sendand receive audio in order to save bandwidth, or transmit a higherquality signal to the receiving end.

Popular audio coder/decoders (codecs) range from G.729A/B at the low endof the bandwidth scale, along with G.726, G.723 to G.711 at the high endof bandwidth usage. This flexibility in bandwidth requirements allowsAudio only VoIP phones to service many different types of needs withmany different types of broadband connections.

G.729 is mostly used in VoIP applications for its low bandwidthrequirement. Standard G.729 operates at 8 kbit/s, but there areextensions, which provide also 6.4 kbit/s and 11.8 kbit/s rates formarginally worse and better speech quality respectively.

Video VoIP phones are the most sophisticated and generally the mostexpensive of the VoIP phone hardware family. Much more processing isrequired of them to produce both audio and video signaling, as well astelephone service features. In addition to the audio codec pantheonsupported by Audio only VoIP phones, Video VoIP phones add video codecs,such as H.261, H.263 and H.264 to the mix. Many implementations of VideoVoIP phones include computer like functionality, such as browsers,network utility and configuration applications, and aestheticapplications to assist users in configuring, managing and adapting thephone to their environment and needs. Computing power in Video VoIPphones comes near to and sometimes rivals that found in many laptop anddesktop computers. This processing capability is what makes theadditional functionality and video processing in real time possible.

While it may appear rather strange to discuss VoIP soft phones in thesame category as hardware versions of the same, there is a high degreeof similarity with the hardware version. Essentially, VoIP soft phonesdepend upon a host computer and operating system to provide theenvironment where it can operate. Depending on the computing power andcapacity of the host machine, a soft phone can make regular audio onlycalls, video calls, instant messaging, file transfers, e-mail,conference calls, and many other “computer and phone like” functions.The positive to this hardware/software relationship, is the soft phonecan be configured or expanded to take advantage of the additionalprocessing, storage, and resource capacity of the host machine. Also,because the soft phone runs on general purpose hardware, there are manyopportunities to apply this combination in solving manytelecommunication problems that would not be satisfied sufficiently witha dedicated phone function and styled device. The downside to soft phoneembodiment entails costs (much more costly than dedicated VoIPhardware), physical size, power requirements, and lack of portability(in some cases). This also limits in some respects thetelecommunications problem set that can be addressed efficiently.

Because of the aforementioned flexibility of the VoIP soft phone, it ispossible to address, more effectively, the main business limitationsexperienced by currently deployed public pay phones and kiosks. However,there are some basic requirements that must be met, given currenttechnology, in order for the VoIP soft phone to function as a viablealternative to existing public pay phones and kiosks.

For starters, a broadband connection of sufficient speed and qualitymust connect the VoIP soft phone to the VSP that is providing theservice. Standard POTS lines limit their frequency response to 4 KHz,and their digital counterpart (DSO), limits its clocking to 64 kbps forconnections of any type. This is fast enough to accurately render anaudio signal with a bandwidth of 200 Hz to 3600 Hz, which has been usedfor many years to carry phone conversations on POTS analog lines. In theVoIP world, several popular audio codecs can operate within thisbandwidth range: G.711 requires 64 Kbs to render an audio signal, G.723uses between 16 Kbs and 40 Kbps, and G.729 uses between 4 Kbps and 16Kbps.

Digital Video signals in the VoIP world come in a variety of quality andphysically rendered image sizes to meet a number of different needs. Ingeneral, the bandwidth requirements for a video VoIP signal can rangefrom 40 Kbs to 2 Mbs. The higher the bandwidth, the bigger the imagesize and the better the quality of that video. At the low end of thebandwidth scale image resolutions can range from 88×72 pixels, to178×144 pixels with frames rates of about 5+ frames per second. At 2Mbs, the image resolutions approach television quality high definitionrendering, with a size of 704×576 pixels (and larger in some cases) withframes rates up to 30 frames per second.

While it is desirable to have as high a quality of video image and audiosignal, that desire must be balanced against financial costs associatedwith the generation and transport of that signal. Current popular videocodecs include H.261, H.263 and its variants, and the most recent codec,H.264. H.261 is the oldest of the codecs, introduced in 1990, andrequires the most bandwidth of the three mentioned to produce theequivalent video resolution and frame rate. H.261's was the firstpractical digital video standard and set the stage for the creation ofsubsequent standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (H.262) and so on. H.263 wasintroduced in 1995/1996 and provided better image compression andbandwidth usage than its older sibling. This codec family is still inwidespread use today in the VoIP world and provides a good quality imagefor its intended design use in video conferencing. It is efficientenough that Adobe® adopted the codec for use in their very popular Flash8 format. In May 2003, H.264 (also known as MPEG-4) was introduced asthe most efficient codec for compressing and delivering video signalsover low bandwidth connections. It was also the first of these codecs tobe designed with the intent to operate efficiently on RTP/IP packetnetworks and multimedia telephony networks. Using this codec makes VideoVoIP telephony even more cost effective.

A reasonable comprise that is “good enough” for a typical video phoneconversation, would require the use of either H.263 or H.264 for videoat Common Intermediate Format (CIF) resolution of 356×288, coupled withone of the following audio codecs: G.729, G.726, or G.723. Depending onthe combination of codecs, hosting hardware, and VSP, bandwidthrequirements could run from about 150 Kbs to 256 Kbs to support videocalls at up to 30 fps.

A final requirement to bring VoIP service in line with existing POTSservice centers on Quality of Service (QoS). QoS, in essence, is thepractice of managing the streaming packets that comprise a VoIP phonecall so that as many packets as possible arrive between sender andreceiver in a timely manner and in the proper order. Since POTS isanalog in nature, there is no need to manage anything other thansignaling, as all call information (including control and voice) arriveat their intended destination on time and always “in order”. There areno packets to manage. VoIP on the other hand is built on top of theTCP/IP protocol, which itself is physically transported across copperand optical lines as Ethernet or ATM packets. By design, TCP/IP is“store and forward”, meaning that packets generated between two endpoints do not have to arrive at a particular time, nor in order. BecauseTCP/IP is not “real time”, nor packet ordered in its delivery, thisgives the protocol and applications that use it for data transfers overthat connection, a great deal of flexibility on how they transmit androute data from one point to another. This flexibility is not conduciveto real time applications such as telephony, which requiresdeterministic packet order and delivery times for proper telephone callpacket conversation to analog signaling at both ends of the phone call.To compensate for this feature of TCP/IP, many VoIP devices, softwareand VSP's use techniques such as packet ordering, jitter buffers, andpacket prioritization to ensure QoS.

What is needed is a public conveyance that couples analog and digitaltelephony, video, and additional related services. What is also neededis a method of near if not continuous income generation to provide theseservices at commodity pricing to encourage increased use, as well as amore stable income to the owner of this conveyance. The presentinvention solves these problems with the use of scheduled paidadvertising and other income generating business techniques, digitalcommunications protocols, broadband connections, video hardware support,and QoS techniques to create a novel delivery of information intelephony and related services to the public.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary aspect of the present invention is to provide an improvedpublic communications kiosk.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide for advertisementsfor display at a kiosk.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide foradvertisement revenue for the kiosk investor.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a kiosk forcommunications.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a kiosk that isergonomic with special features desirable for the elderly orhandicapped, an alternate embodiment.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a financialkiosk to link to a virtual broker for financial transactions orresearch, another alternate embodiment.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an expandedservice kiosk, yet another embodiment, with a large range of functionsincluding but not limited to communications, financial, travel, etc.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide advertisers withthe ability to advertise to a targeted group of consumers.

The present invention combines a number of features to create animproved public communications kiosk, with at least four differentembodiments, by providing:

-   -   Improved Revenue Production    -   Bundling of Communications Services    -   Ease of Use (Ergonomics)    -   Expansion and Targeting of Services    -   Personalized Communications Environment    -   Portable Personal Data    -   Demographics for ad Targeting and Analysis

The invention consists of four basic type of kiosks.

-   -   1. A general communications kiosk    -   2. A senior citizen and ergonomic kiosk    -   3. A financial kiosk    -   4. An expanded services kiosk

These will be described in detail below along with details of theworking system of the invention.

Other aspects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription and appended claims, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein likereference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Round Attractor Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 2 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Round Attractor Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 3 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Flat Attractor Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 4 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Flat Attractor Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 5 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Round Attractor Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 6 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Round Attractor Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 7 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Flat Attractor Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 8 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Flat Attractor Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the top level Process Loop.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the Payment Card Capture Process.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of the Rate Table Process.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the Video Call Process Loop.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the Video Mail Process Loop.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of the Greeting Card Process Loop.

FIG. 15 is a system view of the Remote and Content Management for VideoPhone Kiosks.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of the Initialize Video Phone Kiosk Process.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of the Video Phone Kiosk Maintenance Process.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart of the Payment Card Process.

FIG. 19 is a front view of the Expanded Services Kiosk.

FIG. 20 is a top view of the Biometric Keyboard.

FIG. 21 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor Wing Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 22 is a top view of Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor Wing Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 23 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor Wing Displayand Sensor Mat.

FIG. 24 is a front view of Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor Wing Displayand Proximity Sensors.

FIG. 25 is a first front elevation view of an alternative embodimentvideo phone kiosk with a security camera.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart of the security camera option. Before explainingthe disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention iscapable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is forthe purpose of description and not of limitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved public communications kiosk.It also provides for display of advertisements and associated revenuecollected from advertisements. Another embodiment of the presentinvention provides a senior citizen and ergonomic kiosk with specialfeatures desirable for the elderly and/or handicapped. Yet anotherembodiment or the present invention is to provide a financial kiosk tolink to a virtual broker for financial transactions or research. Stillanother embodiment is to provide an expanded service kiosk, yet anotherembodiment, with a large range of functions including but not limited tocommunications, financial, travel, etc. These will be discussed indetail below.

The present invention combines a number of features to create animproved public communications kiosk, with at least the fouraforementioned embodiments, by providing the following features:

-   -   A. Improved Revenue Production    -   B. Bundling of Communications Services    -   C. Ease of Use (Ergonomics)    -   D. Expansion and Targeting of Services    -   E. Personalized Communications Environment    -   F. Portable Personal Data    -   G. Demographics for ad Targeting and Analysis

These aforementioned features are now described in more detail.

A): Improved Revenue Production:

Current public phones and communications kiosks are primarily dependenton revenue generation by charging time for actual use of services. Forphones and kiosks that are located in areas where they will see amajority of their time providing services, instead of waiting for acustomer to engage them, this revenue generating model is profitable,but not efficient. For those phones and kiosks located in low trafficand/or use areas, the revenue model is neither profitable, norefficient. The issue lies in the fact that no money is being generatedbetween customers.

This invention solves that problem in a unique way, by coupling pay forcommunications services with using an established means (advertising) togenerate revenue, even when the kiosk is not in use. Using a physical‘Attractor’, attached to the video phone kiosk, this kiosk will spoolboth still ads and video ads with, or without sound, on at least 3 sidesof the invention kiosk, in order to attract people's attention andappeal to their curiosity to have a closer look at what the kiosk isdisplaying. The ‘Attractor’ would be a display (round, flat, wingedetc.) that would carry ads to ‘attract’ customers to the kiosk. Thedisplay is capable of still, video, voice or combinations thereof. Itcould be an ‘outside’ only display or an ‘outside/inside’ display havingdouble sided screens as seen by the customer The kiosk itself canaccommodate one or more individuals for applications that might involvemore than one person. The ads themselves are scheduled and managedremotely, just as a TV or Radio station would schedule and runadvertising, based on an advertiser's willingness to pay for time slotswithin a 24 hour daily cycle, as well as the number of times to run thead, and which target areas or regions of the country, city or geographywould be best suited for the goods and services the advertiser isoffering.

When revenue generating ads are balanced against the kiosk servicesusage, and the slack time between customers, it presents a revenue modelthat is both efficient and profitable for a wide range of usage/slacktime scenarios. For example, the Denver International Airport is a hightraffic area, serving 47.3 million people for fiscal year 2006. Withinthe facilities are a number of shops and services, including pay phonesand communications (Internet) kiosks. Many of these communicationsfacilities stand idle the majority of the time, due primarily topersonal cell phones and wireless connections for laptops, PDA's,BlackBerry's®, and other communications devices. When they are in use,calls and access are of short duration as the pricing per minute or byservice is high by comparison to the service rates many people receivewith their cell phones, PDA's, and other communications devices theywill use during travel. An additional issue with the communicationskiosks and pay phones that is there is very little effort made toactively attract customers to them for use.

This invention addresses these shortcomings directly by providing akiosk owner with the ability to generate a near continuous revenuestream through the use of rotating advertising on all screens except forthe main user kiosk monitor when the kiosk is in use. The main userkiosk monitor will display ads when the kiosk is not in use. The presentinvention provides communications and other services that are unique tothe kiosk, or are bundled in such a way, they present a very convenientand attractive package to the customer. Thus ad revenue is produced bysolicitation of advertisers, selling time slices, collecting ads,sending to targeted kiosks and displaying the ads.

B: Bundling of Communications Services:

Communications services in and of themselves represent a level of valuethat justifies their existence. For example, the regular telephone call,which gets less expensive almost yearly, is a service that people want,need and consider indispensable to have for business, personal reasons,or simple peace of mind. The technology has changed dramatically sincethe days of Alexander Graham Bell, but the use of a telephone call hasnot. In essence, the value of the telephone call lies in the inherentconvenience to communicate with someone else at a distance.

As technology has progressed, it has become common, if not fashionable,to bundle additional services with the telephone call to increase theconvenience value, while decreasing the out of pocket cost to the endcustomer. The present invention is no different in this respect, as ithas the ability to bundle more than one type of communication servicetogether, in addition to the ability to bundle additional goods andservices dependant on those bundled communication services. This givesthe kiosk the ability to specifically focus on different types ofcustomers, or to remain a “general” communications kiosk with nospecific demographic target.

For example, as part of the basic embodiment of the present invention,the kiosk provides for video phone calls. This requires the use of acamera to capture and transmit an image to some designated endpoint,whether it is a storage device, an application, or another video phonedevice at the end of a communication's connection. Leveraging the factthat the kiosk has the ability to record images, both moving and still,and that it has a method to transmit those images to some designatedlocation, the invention can support bundled services requiring thesetype of facilities, such as video mail, personalized greeting cardcreation, video “post cards” and other similar types of services.

C: Ease of Use

The ergonomics of any system, device or invention has a direct bearingon the acceptance and long term use. This invention addresses this needin several ways. First, the kiosk itself is located at an elevation(average table height) that allows a customer to sit comfortably in astool or chair and operate the kiosk itself. Second, the height of thekiosk allows for those handicapped persons in a wheel chair or mobilecart to operate the kiosk without having to spend a great deal of timeand energy or require help to do so. Third, the ‘Attractor’ itself isdesigned to allow small groups of people to gather around the kiosk andparticipate in a video call, video mail, or other service, while at thesame time providing access to those in wheel chairs and mobile carts.Fourth, the use of user inputs such as touch screens, trackballs, mousebuttons, keyboards, and voice recognition allow the customerapplications to format data and customer responses so that the customerspends as little effort as possible to use the kiosk and the services itprovides.

D: Expansion and Targeting of Services

Because bundling of communications services is endemic to thisinvention, this quality allows specifically for the expansion and/ortargeting of services towards a specific demographic, region, productset, market, etc. The primary purpose of expanded and/or targetedservices in this invention is to directly address the needs of aparticular vertical market segment. Some of the markets that have beenidentified as viable and targeted for this invention include but are notlimited to financial services, senior citizens, college students,medical needs, diagnosis and information, travel, shopping, dining,social and leisure, online and/or network gaming, and churches.

E: Personalized communications environment

Public pay phones and communications kiosks lack the ability to addressthe end customer specifically. There is no general mechanism availabletoday that would let a public pay phone or communications kioskconfigure itself automatically for services and preferences to John QPublic every time John uses one of these existing devices. Thisinvention solves this immediate problem and the ancillary problem of “IsJohn Q Public the person actually using this kiosk?” (authentication),so that John does not get charged for services he never used.

Personalization provides a real value to a customer who would use thisinvention, as the presentation of displays, services paid for andapplication behaviors are familiar to the customer and reflect theservices they are entitled to, regardless of which kiosk is being used.This gives a convenience and efficiency that can be had no other way.

As technology has increased its ability to process and store moreinformation, it has become easier to maintain very large data sets, orvery large amounts of data, distributed throughout a wide area or largegroup of people, machines or networks. In the case of Personalization,the data associated with a particular customer can be stored foruniversal access in one of two ways. The first utilizes the storage anddistribution capabilities of the network attached to the kiosk. Sincethe kiosk is remotely managed, then one of those management featureswould be for the kiosk to access a data repository of customerinformation and then configure its displays, behaviors and availableservices whenever the user identifies themself to the kiosk. Theadvantage here is the data is always available to the customer, nomatter which network connection they use. The customer does not need tocarry any physical storage medium with them to acquire this servicestate in a kiosk. The downside to this lies in the expense to thenetwork provider for the use and storage of data in their facilities.

The second method of universal data access for the customer is for thecustomer to store the data locally on some medium such as a jump drive,flash drive, micro drive, flashcard, magnetic stripe card, CD, or DVD orother conveyance. This method keeps the data local to the customer, andthey use the storage method of choice to configure the kiosk to theirliking. The advantage here is the reduced costs to the network provider,the lack of responsibility to retain and maintain accurate customer dataand configuration, and the customer has a choice as to how they wish tohandle their personalization. The downside to this method is born by thecustomer. If they forget their medium, or the medium fails, they cannotpersonalize the kiosk for that session. Also, the customer could loosetheir medium or have it stolen, in which case, they put themselves at afinancial risk.

At this point, the second issue, authentication needs to be addressed.Authentication, in terms of this invention serves the purpose ofprotecting the customer from paying for services they did not request oruse. Coupled with the ability to personalize services to a customerbrings the need to make sure the personalization is actually happeningfor the customer for which it is intended. Proper authenticationinvolves the use of data that is only “known” between the customer andthe network service provider. This can take the form of PIN numbers,passwords, pass-phrases, hashes, or other types of data that can beprovided by the customer to the network which trusts that “John QPublic” is the person providing that information. As common as thatmethod is, the weakness lies in the fact that such information can bediscovered and is not truly unique to the individual providingit—meaning that anyone who has that data can pretend to be John Q Publicand avail themselves of John's services. A more secure method ofauthentication uses a biometric signature to validate the identity ofJohn Q Public before providing services.

Biometric signatures are digital data that represents some uniquephysical quality to the human body that statistically is extremelyunlikely to be replicated by another person. Such signatures usuallyinvolve, but are not limited to, fingerprints, handprints, or retinalscans. For this invention, the preferred method uses fingerprints as theauthentication data, as they are quick to produce, small to store, easyto collect and generally accurate. Using a biometric keyboard (ref. FIG.20), the customer can respond to a query from the kiosk to provide afingerprint and then the kiosk will personalize itself once thefingerprint is verified against the customer.

F: Portable Personal Data

The concept of portable personal data is not new, but it is a verypowerful one that lets the customer leverage the invention in ways thatexisting public pay phones and communications kiosks cannot do today.Typically portable personal data is usually coupled with a personalizedenvironment, as the symbiotic relationship between the actions providedby personal data and services is too great to ignore.

In this case, the invention uses both concepts to allow for several newthings to occur: A) Electronic Funds, B) Profile data for analysis, C)Usage statistics, and D) Related service. Electronic funds are the mostversatile and directly provide impact on the customer. The inventionallows for the dedication of electronic funds within the networkservices system that can be used to pay for goods and services. Theadvantage to the network services provider is the funds do not leave thesystem, but will be spent on some kind of selected good or service. Thecustomer has a way to measure and dedicate monies to activitiesassociated with the kiosk services and does not need to provide a ‘fundscard’ each time there is a transaction. Profile data and usagestatistics are gathered to make the customer's experience more tailoredto how they use the kiosk and services, as well as provide valuable datafor research and analysis. Related service is a downstream function ofprofile data and usage, and can be stored with the customer data as ameans of remembering what services to offer the customer in the future(much like a Web site cookie).

G: Demographics for ad targeting and analysis

Demographic data as generated by this invention falls into two broadcategories:

-   -   1) User profile data and usage statistics; and    -   2) Network/Kiosk profile data and usage statistics.

Each of these categories will now be addressed separately.

First: User Profile Data and Usage Statistics

Demographic data in this category is generated specifically by thecustomer while interacting with the kiosk of the present invention andthe associated network services. Data is collected to reflect suchmetrics as:

Time of Day Longest Call Average Length of Call Shortest Call Number ofCalls Ad selected Kiosk Location Purchase information Greeting CardsOrdered High Money transaction Video Mails Sent Low Money transaction Adrunning at start of Average Money session Transaction

The above metrics are mentioned by way of example and not of limitation.Thus the examples given are by no means inclusive of the data types andderived data that are collected and stored. These data points and othersare analyzed to understand the usage trends of the customer and toprovide detail data for advertisers and services that can be enhanced tosatisfy the needs and habits of the customer as they use the kiosk.

Second: Network/Kiosk Profile Data and Usage Statistics

Network/kiosk profile data and usage statistics data is collected at thenetwork level and is used specifically to assess the influence of theattractor ads for vendors, location, customer types, and also forsetting ad pricing, service offerings at the kiosk and the frequency ofservice use, customer demographics that indicate what additionalservices would be good to offer, as well as ad targeting for a specificgeographic area.

The present invention has four basic embodiments that provide all of thekiosk variations necessary to address any identified and viable verticalmarket. These embodiments are designated as General, Senior Citizen orErgonomic, Financial, and Expanded Services. Each of the fourembodiments is described now in more detail as follows:

1. General Embodiment

The General Embodiment of the invention utilizes a video phone kiosk,coupled with one of the three types of physical attractors (round, flator wings), and either a sensor mat or proximity sensors. The services,as provided for all the embodiments, and the General Embodimentspecifically, are basic Audio Phone calling, Video Phone calling, VideoMail, and creating Greeting Cards. These are all pay for services, sothere is electronic payment processing through a merchant account aswell. For auditing purposes receipts to a customer will be providedeither by e-mail or by a fax to a customer provided fax number. TheAudio and Video Phone calling is done via VoIP and uses H.263 or H.264formatting as a basis for the video signal, with G.711, G.723, G.726 orG.729 A/B support for the audio portion of the call. Video Mail willsupport codecs from the aforementioned list.

2. Senior Citizen or Ergonomic Embodiment

The Senior Citizen (or Ergonomic) embodiment contains all the hardwareand software features of the aforementioned General Embodiment. Inaddition to the capabilities provided by the General Embodiment, theSenior Citizen Embodiment adds the following processes and capabilities:

-   -   Personalized profile for each user    -   External Membership creation and management    -   Unique User Interface to simplify kiosk use, such as the        aforementioned touch screen, voice recognition, auto dial, large        font, etc.    -   Additional input devices for ADA compliance

These processes and capabilities are expanded upon below. A ‘user’ ofthis embodiment will be called a senior citizen for purposes of exampleand not of limitation. It should be noted that while this embodimenttargeted for senior citizens, it is also beneficial to handicappedindividuals and can be used by a wide variety of users.

To explain what is meant by a ‘personalized profile for each SeniorCitizen’, each senior citizen that signs up to use this embodiment willcreate a personal profile on an external machine dedicated to creatingand managing membership data. The membership data will includeinformation such as their name, contact information, any appliedfunds/credit for goods and service purchases, pictures of 3 to 5 (orother limited number) first contact people, their addresses, phonenumbers, e-mail addresses, and fax numbers.

The ‘External Membership creation and management’ is now explained. Tocreate the membership the senior citizen and a member of their familythat can act in their behalf or their legal guardian will supply theretirement home or other facility with information and any financialbasis for greeting cards and video calls. Next, the senior citizen willhave their picture taken, along with any other family, friends,guardians that are to be included in their calling circle. Theinformation will then be stored for network access by the kiosk and amagnetic stripe card will be created with the senior's picture on it andthe information necessary to activate and customize the Senior Citizenapplication.

To manage the membership, the retirement home or other facility will usethe membership application to update any information for the senior'saccount. This would include contact information, finances, people in thecalling circle, etc.

The ‘Unique User Interface to simplify use’ is now explained. To keepthings as simple as possible, the user interface will have as littletext as possible. Instead, it will rely primarily on graphics tofacilitate navigation and function. When the senior slides their cardinto the credit card reader, the application will read the membershipinformation off the card and query the remote membership base for amatch. If a match is found then the application will retrieve thepictures of the calling circle and arrange them on the screen so thatall the senior has to do is touch one of the pictures, or use an ADAcompliant USB pointing device to select the picture of the person theywant to talk to, and the application will dial the number provided withthe calling circle information. Another method would be ‘voicerecognition’ whereby the senior citizen would say for example ‘callnumber 3’ to call a person listed third. If the senior wants to send avideo mail instead, they will select the video mail icon first beforeselecting the picture of the person they want to send the video mail to.The application will bring up the video mail module that will record thevideo mail and will automatically send it at the touch or selection orvoice recognition of the prescribed button. If the senior wants to sendgreeting card, then they would select the Greeting Card icon beforeselecting a picture from the calling tree. The application will activatethe Greeting card module and the senior can select the card they like,enter some prose, and even select a scent to be applied to the card andenvelope before it is mailed.

Finally to explain the ‘Additional input devices for ADA compliance’, insome instances there are seniors (or other users) that for one reason oranother cannot successfully navigate the interface with a trackball or atouch screen. For these seniors, there are a number of ADA compliantinput devices, such as air tubes, joysticks, voice recognition and otherinput devices designed to accommodate people with disabilities. Theinvention allows for the use of such devices to facilitate thenavigation of the simple senior interface.

3. Financial Embodiment

The Financial Embodiment focuses on the investment markets, such asstocks, bonds, derivatives and commodities. The purpose of thisembodiment is to provide investors with an active (and interactive) andpersonalized trading station with links to a brokerage (“VirtualBroker™”) in order to communicate with someone for information,transactions, or other needs that require human intervention.

While it can contain features from the ‘Senior Citizen’ embodiment, theFinancial Embodiment contains all the functionality of the GeneralEmbodiment, plus it adds features from the Expanded Services embodiment(described below) such as a printer for hard copy output, or a CD/DVDReader Writer for encoding information or retrieving information fromthat media, or a flash card reader to handle smaller amounts of datathat the customer will provide, such as a personal profile, data,trading information, accounts, active contracts and personalizedenvironment.

The application in this embodiment is designed but not limited to usethe touch screen as well as the keyboard and trackball to allow theinvestor to use what they feel most comfortable with and is the mostefficient for them. Part of the application for this embodiment willfocus on market data, with technical indicators, data feeds and newswires, plus access to a brokerage house in order to place all the toolsin front of the investor for a quick trade scenario.

Transactions will be done by EFT/Credit card and can be done over thevideo phone with the brokerage. Audit trail will provide receipts bye-mail, fax or hard copy print out at the investor's choice.

4. Expanded Services Embodiment

The Expanded Services embodiment contains all the General Embodimentfunctionality, plus hardware as portrayed below in FIG. 19, pluspersonalized environment, personal data, EFT transactions, ability torecord and read from flash cards, USB drives, CD/DVD drives, output toprinters, wireless connectivity, data feeds, wired network connections,and expanded mag-stripe card support.

This embodiment is intended to be non-specific as a foundation, buttarget specific vertical markets, which will be addressed specificallyby the application developed to control and manage all the baselinehardware and services in existence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Round AttractorDisplay and a Sensor Mat. The video phone kiosk 100 is aligned towardsthe back of the circle formed by the round display panels 104, supportedby the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 is tetheredto the round display panels 104 with the video/power cable bundle 112that extends into the display support panels 106. The video/power cablebundle 112 extends up the inside of the display support post 106 andthen runs along the top of the round display panel 104, underneath a capthat sits on top of the round display panel 104, used for decoration andto hide and protect the video/power cable bundle 112. A sensor mat 102sits directly in front of, and is connected to, the video phone kiosk100. The sensor mat 102 covers at least 50% to 75% of the floor areainside the circle formed by the round display panels 104 and the displaysupport posts 106, directly in front of the video phone kiosk 100. Itshould be noted that the sensor mat 102 can be sized to cover any amountof floor space required in front of the video phone kiosk 100. The rounddisplay panels 104 will contain some kind of flexible displaytechnology, such as OLED, LCD on polymer or plastic substrate. Thebacking will be composed of a firm material such as metal or compositewood, plastic, Kevlar™, or other material that can be formed and keepits shape indefinitely. Covering the visible portion of the rounddisplay panel is a layer of transparent glass, plastic or other materialthat protects the physical display underneath. It should be noted thatthe shape of display panel 104 is shown by way of example and not oflimitation. It should also be noted that display panel 104 can be asingle or a double sided display.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Round AttractorDisplay and Proximity Sensors. The video phone kiosk 100 is alignedtowards the back of the circle formed by the round display panels 104,supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 istethered to the round display panels 104 with the video/power cablebundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the round display panel104, underneath a cap that sits on top of the round display panel 104,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. In this embodiment, a communications cable runs as part of thevideo/power cable bundle 112 to interconnect any and all proximitysensors 108 to the video phone kiosk 100, It should be noted thattypical deployments only require one proximity sensor 108 to effectivelymanage customer detection. The primary sensor will be located on the topof the video phone kiosk 100 and does not require and externalcommunications cable. Instead, if the proximity sensor 108 is located onone or more display support posts 106, then the communications cablewill be included in the video/power cable bundle 112. The round displaypanels 104 will contain some kind of flexible display technology, suchas OLED, LCD on polymer or plastic substrate. The backing will becomposed of a firm material such as metal or composite wood, plastic,Kevlar™, or other material that can be formed and keep its shapeindefinitely. Covering the visible portion of the round display panel isa layer of transparent glass, plastic or other material that protectsthe physical display underneath.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Flat AttractorDisplay and a Sensor Mat. The video phone kiosk 100 is aligned towardsthe back of the semi-octagon formed by the flat display panels 110,supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 istethered to the flat display panels 110 with the video/power cablebundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the flat display panel106, underneath a cap that sits on top of the flat display panel 110,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. A sensor mat 102 sits directly in front of, and is connected to,the video phone kiosk 100. The sensor mat 102 covers at least 50% to 75%of the floor area inside the circle formed by the flat display panels110 and the display support posts 106, directly in front of the videophone kiosk 100. It should be noted that the sensor mat 102 can be sizedto cover any amount of floor space required in front of the video phonekiosk 100. The flat display panels 110 will contain some kind of flatdisplay technology, such as LCD, LCoS, Plasma, flat CRT, or flexibledisplay on polymer or plastic substrate. The backing will be composed ofa firm material such as metal or composite wood, plastic, Kevlar™, orother material that can be formed and keep its shape indefinitely.Covering the visible portion of the round display panel is a layer oftransparent glass, plastic or other material that protects the physicaldisplay underneath.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Flat AttractorDisplay and Proximity Sensors. The video phone kiosk 100 is alignedtowards the back of the semi-octagon formed by the flat display panels104, supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk100 is tethered to the round display panels 104 with the video/powercable bundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the flat display panel110, underneath a cap that sits on top of the flat display panel 110,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. In this embodiment, a communications cable runs as part of thevideo/power cable bundle 112 to interconnect any and all proximitysensors 108 to the video phone kiosk 100, It should be noted thattypical deployments only require one proximity sensor 108 to effectivelymanage customer detection. The primary sensor will be located on the topof the video phone kiosk 100 and does not require and externalcommunications cable. Instead, if the proximity sensor 108 is located onone or more display support posts 106, then the communications cablewill be included in the video/power cable bundle 112. The flat displaypanels 110 will contain some kind of flat display technology, such asLCD, LCoS, Plasma, flat CRT, or flexible display on polymer or plasticsubstrate. The backing will be composed of a firm material such as metalor composite wood, plastic, Kevlar™, or other material that can beformed and keep its shape indefinitely. Covering the visible portion ofthe round display panel is a layer of transparent glass, plastic orother material that protects the physical display underneath.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Round AttractorDisplay and a Sensor Mat. The video phone kiosk 100 is aligned towardsthe back of the circle formed by the round display panels 104, supportedby the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 is tetheredto the round display panels 104 with the video/power cable bundle 112that extends into the display support panels 106. The video/power cablebundle 112 extends up the inside of the display support post 106 andthen runs along the top of the round display panel 104, underneath a capthat sits on top of the round display panel 104, used for decoration andto hide and protect the video/power cable bundle 112. A sensor mat 102sits directly in front of, and is connected to, the video phone kiosk100. The sensor mat 102 covers at least 50% to 75% of the floor areainside the circle formed by the round display panels 104 and the displaysupport posts 106, directly in front of the video phone kiosk 100. Itshould be noted that the sensor mat 102 can be sized to cover any amountof floor space required in front of the video phone kiosk 100. The rounddisplay panels 104 will contain some kind of flexible displaytechnology, such as OLED, LCD on polymer or plastic substrate. Thebacking will be composed of a firm material such as metal or compositewood, plastic, Kevlar™, or other material that can be formed and keepits shape indefinitely. Covering the visible portion of the rounddisplay panel is a layer of transparent glass, plastic or other materialthat protects the physical display underneath.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Round AttractorDisplay and Proximity Sensors. The video phone kiosk 100 is alignedtowards the back of the circle formed by the round display panels 104,supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 istethered to the round display panels 104 with the video/power cablebundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the round display panel104, underneath a cap that sits on top of the round display panel 104,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. In this embodiment, a communications cable runs as part of thevideo/power cable bundle 112 to interconnect any and all proximitysensors 108 to the video phone kiosk 100, It should be noted thattypical deployments only require one proximity sensor 108 to effectivelymanage customer detection. The primary sensor will be located on the topof the video phone kiosk 100 and does not require and externalcommunications cable. Instead, if the proximity sensor 108 is located onone or more display support posts 106, then the communications cablewill be included in the video/power cable bundle 112. The round displaypanels 104 will contain some kind of flexible display technology, suchas OLED, LCD on polymer or plastic substrate. The backing will becomposed of a firm material such as metal or composite wood, plastic,Kevlar™, or other material that can be formed and keep its shapeindefinitely. Covering the visible portion of the round display panel isa layer of transparent glass, plastic or other material that protectsthe physical display underneath.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Flat AttractorDisplay with a Sensor Mat. The video phone kiosk 100 is aligned towardsthe back of the semi-octagon formed by the flat display panels 110,supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk 100 istethered to the flat display panels 110 with the video/power cablebundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the flat display panel106, underneath a cap that sits on top of the flat display panel 110,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. A sensor mat 102 sits directly in front of, and is connected to,the video phone kiosk 100. The sensor mat 102 covers at least 50% to 75%of the floor area inside the circle formed by the flat display panels110 and the display support posts 106, directly in front of the videophone kiosk 100. It should be noted that the sensor mat 102 can be sizedto cover any amount of floor space required in front of the video phonekiosk 100. The flat display panels 110 will contain some kind of flatdisplay technology, such as LCD, LCoS, Plasma, flat CRT, or flexibledisplay on polymer or plastic substrate. The backing will be composed ofa firm material such as metal or composite wood, plastic, Kevlar™, orother material that can be formed and keep its shape indefinitely.Covering the visible portion of the round display panel is a layer oftransparent glass, plastic or other material that protects the physicaldisplay underneath.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with the Flat AttractorDisplay and Proximity Sensors. The video phone kiosk 100 is alignedtowards the back of the semi-octagon formed by the flat display panels104, supported by the display support posts 106. The video phone kiosk100 is tethered to the round display panels 104 with the video/powercable bundle 112 that extends into the display support panels 106. Thevideo/power cable bundle 112 extends up the inside of the displaysupport post 106 and then runs along the top of the flat display panel110, underneath a cap that sits on top of the flat display panel 110,used for decoration and to hide and protect the video/power cable bundle112. In this embodiment, a communications cable runs as part of thevideo/power cable bundle 112 to interconnect any and all proximitysensors 108 to the video phone kiosk 100, It should be noted thattypical deployments only require one proximity sensor 108 to effectivelymanage customer detection. The primary sensor will be located on the topof the video phone kiosk 100 and does not require and externalcommunications cable. Instead, if the proximity sensor 108 is located onone or more display support posts 106, then the communications cablewill be included in the video/power cable bundle 112. The flat displaypanels 110 will contain some kind of flat display technology, such asLCD, LCoS, Plasma, flat CRT, or flexible display on polymer or plasticsubstrate. The backing will be composed of a firm material such as metalor composite wood, plastic, Kevlar™, or other material that can beformed and keep its shape indefinitely. Covering the visible portion ofthe round display panel is a layer of transparent glass, plastic orother material that protects the physical display underneath.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart diagram of the Top Level Process Loop. This isthe top level process loop of the customer application in the videophone kiosk 100 (ref. FIGS. 1-8). By default the application tests for atime out condition noted in 902. If the condition is met, then theapplication will load the load the attractor with ad media 904 andproceed to display the ad media 906 on the video phone kiosk display 100and the connected external display panels (either round display panels104 or flat display panels 110). The application waits for completion ofthe ad media play 910. Once the ad media has finished display, a checkis made for Maintenance (see FIG. 17) and the attractor returns to 904and loads a new ad to display, before proceeding on to 906. At the sametime, the application is testing for a predetermined user event 908. Ifthe user event occurs, then the application tests for the kind of event(Person detected, Touch screen activated, or keyboard key pressed) 914.If the event is not a valid user event then application does notinterrupt the current ad media being displayed. If the event is validthen the application checks to see of the customer menu is up 916. Ifthe menu is not up, meaning that the attractor is still displaying admedia, then the application interrupts the attractor and displays thecustomer selection menu 912. The application acquires a selection fromthe customer 918 (while testing for a timeout condition 902) and teststhe input for which function the customer is requesting. If theselection is a Greeting Card 924 then the application branches to 1400(FIG. 14). If the selection is Video Mail 922 then the applicationbranches to 1300 (FIG. 13). If the selection is Video Phone, then theapplication branches to 1212 (FIG. 12). If the selection is none of theprevious options, then the selection is ignored and the applicationdrops into waiting for a timeout condition 902 after all user events areprocessed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart diagram of the Payment Card Capture Process. Thisprocess is part of the customer application. Whenever the applicationrequires a payment card, it transfers to 1002 where the customer isasked for a payment card. The customer inserts a payment card and theapplication reads the information from the card 1006. The applicationthen checks the card to make sure it is one of the valid card types thatis accepted by the customer application 1010. If the card is valid, thenthe application will submit the card to the merchant account/bank forcapture 1014, and check to make sure the transaction is accepted 1018.If the transaction is accepted, the application sets the transactionlimit 1022 and checks to make sure these limits are OK 1024 beforereturning to the calling portion of the customer application 1020.Returning to 1010, if the credit card is not valid, then the customerapplication will display an error message 1008 and check to see if thecustomer can try to swipe card again 1004. If the customer can retry thecard again the customer application checks to see if the customer hascanceled the transaction 1000. If they have, then the application setsthe bad transaction flag 1016 and returns to the calling section of thecustomer application 1020. If the customer wants to try their card again1000, then the application loops back to 1002 and starts the flat rateprocess loop again. Returning to 1004, if the customer has exceeded thenumber of retries allowed, the customer application displays a badtransaction error 1012 and sets the bad transaction flag 1016 beforereturning to 916 (FIG. 9).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart diagram of the Rate Table Process. The rate tableprocess of the customer application handles calling rates on the videophone for long distance and international calling. When the customerapplication receives a phone number to dial it transfers to 1100 wherethe application reads the rate table 1102. The phone number is compared1104 to valid area codes, number plan area (NPA) and country codes tosee if there is a rate for the number requested. If the rate is valid1106, then the application returns to the calling section 1110 of thecustomer application. If the rate is invalid, the bad transaction flagis set 1108 and the application returns to the calling section of thecustomer application 1110.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart diagram of the Video Call Process Loop. When thecustomer application transfers from 920 (FIG. 9), a check is run to seeif the payment card has been captured. 1212. If not, then theapplication captures the payment card 1002 (FIG. 10). Before the phoneapplication is displayed 1200. The phone number to call is acquired 1202and the rate table is then consulted to validate the phone number 1100(FIG. 11). If the bad transaction flag is set 1206, the applicationreturns back to 916 (FIG. 9; otherwise the phone call is made 1204.While the phone call is in progress the customer application accumulatesper minute charges and checks the current charge against the transactionlimits 1210. When the cost of the call meets or exceeds the transactionlimits 1210, the call is terminated and charges are posted to themerchant account/bank 1800 (FIG. 18) before returning to 916. Once thephone call is completed, the call charge is checked against thetransaction limits 1210. If the transaction limit is not reached orexceeded 1210, the customer is given the opportunity to make anothervideo call 1208. If they agree, then the application loops back to 1202,otherwise control returns back to 916.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart diagram of the Video Mail Process Loop. When thecustomer application transfers from 922 (ref. FIG. 9), a check is run tosee if the payment card has been captured 1300. If not, then theapplication captures the payment card 1002 (ref. FIG. 10). Before thevideo mail application is displayed 1302. The customer creates the videomail 1304, and is given the choice to send it or cancel 1308. If thecustomer chooses not to send the video mail, then control returns backto 916 (ref. FIG. 9), otherwise the charge for the video mail is checkedagainst the transaction limit 1310. If the transaction limit isexceeded, then the customer is asked if they want to reduce their costsor quit 1314. If the customer wants to reduce costs, then control ispassed back to 1304, otherwise control is passed back to 916 (ref. FIG.9). If the transaction limit is not exceeded, then charges are posted tothe merchant account/bank 1800 (ref. FIG. 18) and the video mail is sentout to the recipient. Next, the customer is given the option to sendanother video mail 1312. If they agree to send another video mail, theapplication loops back to 1304, otherwise control returns back to 916(ref. FIG. 9).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart diagram of the Greeting Card Process Loop. Whenthe customer application transfers from 924 (ref. FIG. 9), a check isrun to see if the payment card has been captured 1400. If not, then thepayment card is captured 1002 (ref. FIG. 10) before the greeting cardapplication is displayed 1402. The customer creates the electronicgreeting card 1404, and is given the choice to send it or cancel 1408. Aprinted greeting card could also be created at the local kiosk printer.If the customer chooses to send the greeting card 1408, the charge forthe greeting card is checked against the transaction limit 1410. If thetransaction limit is exceeded 1410, then the customer is asked if theywant to reduce the costs on the card or quit 1414. If the customerwishes to reduce charges, then control is passed back to 1404 to changethe greeting card. If the customer wants to quit, then control is passedback to 916 (ref. FIG. 9). If the transaction limit is not exceeded,charges are posted to the merchant account/bank 1800 (ref. FIG. 18) andgreeting card information is sent to fulfillment house 1406. Thecustomer is given the option to make another greeting card 1412. If theyagree to make another greeting card, the application loops back to 1404,otherwise control returns back to 916 (ref. FIG. 9).

FIG. 15 is a system view of the Remote and Content Management for VideoPhone Kiosks. It depicts the connection between the Remote ManagementServer 1500, the Content Management Server 1502 and video phone kiosks100. The remote management server 1500 and content management server1502 are connected to the communications cloud 1504. The communicationscloud is connected to the video phone kiosks 100.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart diagram of the Initialize Video Phone KioskProcess. If this is the first time the video phone kiosk is placed intooperation 1602 then the video phone kiosk 100 will be installed andattached to the attractor, power and communications cabling necessaryfor operations prior to initial startup 1604, otherwise, the video phonekiosk 100 will be power cycled to start the Power On Self Test (POST)1606. Once the POST 1606 is completed the customer application will beinitialized 1608 and load its configuration and operating data, plus anymedia ad files stored internally 1610. Once completed, the customerapplication will set the maintenance mode flag 1612 and transfer toMaintenance Mode to receive updates 1700 (ref. FIG. 17). If the updatesare complete 1614, then control is transferred to the Top Level ProcessLoop 900 (ref. FIG. 9), otherwise, the customer application drops into a“safe mode” 1616 and halts operations 1618.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart diagram of the Video Phone Kiosk Maintenance ModeProcess. Once the customer application transfers control to maintenancemode, the application checks to see if it is time to run maintenance1700. If not, then the application checks to see if a request was madeby a remote server 1702. If not, then control is returned to thecustomer application. If it is maintenance time 1700, and/or requestedby a remote server 1702, then the customer application is suspended andcontrol switched to maintenance mode 1704. Next the application connectsto the remote and content management servers 1706. Once connection isestablished, any tracking and statistics store internally 1710 arereported back 1712. If the transaction was not successful 1714, then theapplication sets the bad update flag 1708 and returns to caller 1732,otherwise the application downloads new and updated ad media 1718 fromthe content management server 1716. If the download was not successful1720, then the application sets the bad update flag 1708 and returns tocaller 1732, otherwise the application downloads new and updatedfeatures and functions 1722 from the remote management server 1716. Ifthe download was not successful 1724, then the application sets the badupdate flag 1708 and returns to caller 1732, otherwise the applicationpurges/updates old data, media, features and functions 1728 storedinternally 1726, sets the Idle Timeout and drops from maintenance mode1730 before returning to caller 1732.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart diagram of the Payment Card Process. Once thecustomer application transfers to the payment card process, the pendingtransaction is processed through the merchant account/bank to commit thepending charges 1800. Next the application asks if receipt delivery isto be by fax 1802. If the customer selects fax, then the receipt for allcommitted charges is sent to the fax number 1804, which is provided bythe customer before returning to caller, otherwise the receipt for allcommitted charges is sent to the e-mail address 1806 provided by thecustomer before returning to caller 1808.

FIG. 19 is a front view of the Expanded Services Kiosk. The Video PhoneKiosk 1900 is attached to the Video Phone Kiosk Pedestal 1904. The VideoPhone Kiosk Pedestal 1904 has an Internal Storage 1908 space that isused to mount an Internal Printer 1906 of any type to dispense mediaoutput such as copy paper, colored paper, coupons, receipts,photographs, banners, velum, and any other media type that fits in theprinter and satisfies the services provided. On the front of the VideoPhone Kiosk Pedestal 1904 is a Printer Dispenser Slot 1910 used todispense the output from the Internal Printer 1906 to the customer. Atthe back bottom left of the Video Phone Kiosk Pedestal 1904, theVideo/Power/Communications Cable Bundle 1912 exits the Video Phone KioskPedestal 1904 to attach to an attractor, a power source, and an externalcommunications connection, if required. The Video Phone Kiosk 1900 has anumber of enhancements applied to it for enhanced services. In the frontpanel on the left (facing from the front), is an Internal Flash CardReader 1914 that is capable of reading most of the currently popularcard formats, which can include CF Types 1 & 2, xD, XDM, SM, mSD, SD,MMC, MS Pro, Pro Duo, among others. On the right side of the Video PhoneKiosk 1900 front panel is a CD/DVD Reader/Writer 1918, which is capableof both reading and writing CD and DVD media, which can include the newHigh Definition formats (HD-DVD and/or BlueRay). On the top of the VideoPhone Kiosk 1900, is an optional Wireless Antenna 1902 to facilitatecommunications with an external wireless access point, in place of awired connection to an external communications connection.

FIG. 20 is a top view of the Biometric Keyboard 2000. The BiometricKeyboard 2000 is composed of a QWERTY keypad 2002, a trackball 2004, aFinger Print Reader 2006, a left Mouse Button 2008, and Right MouseButton 2010.

FIG. 21 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor WingDisplay and Sensor Mat. The Video Phone Kiosk 100 is positioned directlybehind the Sensor Mat 102. Attached to both the right and the back ofthe Video Phone Kiosk 100 are Flat Panel Displays 2102, which areattached to Video Phone Kiosk 100 by Support Struts 2108. The left sideof the Video Phone Kiosk has room for an Optional Flat Display Panel2104, that is attached by means of an Optional Support Strut 2106.

FIG. 22 is a top view of the Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor WingDisplay and Proximity Sensor. The Video Phone Kiosk 100 is free standingwith no physical attractor surrounding it. The Proximity Sensor 108 isattached to the top of the Video Phone Kiosk 100. Attached to both theright and the back of the Video Phone Kiosk 100 are Flat Panel Displays2102, which are attached to Video Phone Kiosk 100 by Support Struts2108. The left side of the Video Phone Kiosk has room for an OptionalFlat Display Panel 2104, that is attached by means of an OptionalSupport Strut 2106.

FIG. 23 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor WingDisplay and Sensor Mat. The Video Phone Kiosk 100 is positioned directlybehind the Sensor Mat 102. Attached to the right side of the Video PhoneKiosk 100 is Flat Panel Display 2102, which is attached to Video PhoneKiosk 100 by Support Struts 2108. The left side of the Video Phone Kioskhas room for an Optional Flat Display Panel 2104, that us attached bymeans of an Optional Support Strut 2106. The Video/Power Cable Bundle112 exits the bottom left of the Video Phone Kiosk to attach to externalpower and communications sources.

FIG. 24 is a front view of the Video Phone Kiosk with Attractor WingDisplay and Proximity Sensor. The Video Phone Kiosk 100 is free standingwith no physical attractor surrounding it. The Proximity Sensor 108 isattached to the top of the Video Phone Kiosk 100. Attached to the rightside of the Video Phone Kiosk 100 is Flat Panel Display 2102, which isattached to Video Phone Kiosk 100 by Support Struts 2108. The left sideof the Video Phone Kiosk has room for an Optional Flat Display Panel2104, that is attached by means of an Optional Support Strut 2106. TheVideo/Power Cable Bundle 112 exits the bottom left of the Video PhoneKiosk to attach to external power and communications sources.

System Operation:

The following is a description of the system operation of the presentinvention. In operation, the video phone kiosk 100 as described hereinworks in several states, namely initialization, idle, active andmaintenance. When the video phone kiosk 100 is first installed, thereare a number of requirements that need to be met prior to powering it onfor the first time. These are described as follows:

-   -   1) The Attractor must be installed first with all cabling for        power video and communications for its internal hardware        attached and operational;    -   2) Power cabling for the kiosk must be ready to attach;    -   3) A broadband connection of sufficient speed must be available        and active; and    -   4) A maintenance account must be established and populated for        the video phone kiosk 100.

Once these requirements are met and the associated power andcommunications are attached, then the video phone kiosk will power upfor the first time into Initialization Mode.

Initialization Mode starts (ref. FIG. 16), in essence, with the Power OnSelf Test (POST) of the computer hardware 1606. Once completed, the hostoperating system and its environment are bootstrapped into anoperational state before the customer application is initialized 1608.Once the customer application starts the initialization process, itconfigures its operation and features from internal data 1610 that isstored on the computer. This data can be a default set of data, if thevideo phone kiosk 100 is being started for the first time, or it maycontain an image of data generate from the last time it was in operationbefore being interrupted. In either condition, it is necessary to movethe operation of the video phone kiosk 100 and its internal dataset withad media to a known good state before allowing customers to use the payservices. This resetting reduces the chance of a faulty transaction orservice being visited on the customer.

Once the customer application is fully operation with the current dataset supplied from internal storage 1610, the application sets theMaintenance Flag 1612 and enters Maintenance Mode (ref. FIG. 17). Inthis mode there are two events that will cause this process tooperate; 1) the Maintenance Flag being set, and 2) a remote request bythe Remote Management and/or Content Management servers.

The Maintenance Mode Flag allows the use of Maintenance Mode independentof remote configuration by providing for internal operational events totrigger the use of this mode. For example, the Maintenance Mode flag canbe set by any number of conditions including the following: A) aspecified period of time between the last Maintenance Mode update B)completed execution and display of all ad media currently on hand C)internal error generated from faulty or incorrect data D) detection ofnew or changed hardware installed E) detection of new or changedsoftware drivers installed F) detection of changes in host softwareand/or configuration environment G) changes in applications H) specificcalendar date events I) Specific clock time events J) non-catastrophichardware failures K) support applications requiring updates L) hostsoftware environment (including operating system) requiring updates. Useof the Maintenance Mode flag allows the video phone kiosk 100 to pullinformation and updates it needs without the remote management andcontent servers requiring a constant awareness as to its state ofoperation.

A remote request by the Remote Management and/or Content Managementservers 1702 allows the use of Maintenance Mode from a external event inorder to better manage video phone kiosks 100 both individually and ingroups, using the existing network connection as the means to keepdeployed units in sync by using a push model to move information out toone or many video phone kiosks 100 at the same time. For example,updates to the host operating system cannot be arbitrarily sent out toproduction video phone kiosks 100 in the field, as the interaction withthe customer application and the updates are unknown. After sufficienttesting to verify there are no bad side effects to using the updates,the remote management server 1500 will be used to send a request to eachof the production video phone kiosks 100 in the field and update themwith the changes. An example of content updates is as follows. Anadvertiser wants to update their ad media on all the east coast videophone kiosks 100. The new ad media is loaded on the content managementserver 1502 and the targeted video phone kiosks 100 are updated with thenew ad media, while the rest of the video phone kiosks 100 are leftunchanged.

With the Maintenance Mode set, the Maintenance mode flag test passes1700 and the customer application is interrupted 1704 so that updatescan taker place. Next the application connects to the Remote and ContentManagement servers 1706 and uploads and tracking and statistics datathat has been accumulated in operation 1712. If this the first time inoperation for the video phone kiosk 100, then the data will be zeroedout to reflect the lack of operation time. Once the tracking andstatistics are uploaded 1712, a test is made to confirm a successfultransaction 1714. If the transaction failed 1714, then the bad updateflag is set 1708 and the process returns to caller 1732, otherwise theapplication proceeds to download any new and updated ad media 1718. Onceit has completed the download of new and updated ad media 1718 a test ismade for a successful transaction 1720. If the transaction failed 1720,then the bad update flag is set 1708 and the process returns to caller1732, otherwise the application proceeds to download any new and updatedapplication features and functions 1722.

Once it has completed the download of new and updated applicationfeatures and functions 1722, a test is made for a successful transaction1724. If the transaction failed 1724, then the bad update flag is set1708 and the process returns to caller 1732, otherwise the applicationproceeds to Update and Purge old data, media, application features andfunctions 1728, storing the results internally 1726 on the local harddrive. Finally, the process sets the Idle Timeout flag and drops out ofmaintenance mode 1730 before returning to caller 1732.

Returning from Maintenance Mode, the customer application checks to seeif the updates were successful 1614 (ref. FIG. 16). If they were not,the customer application shuts down and drops in “Safe” mode 1616, whereit does not allow customers to use the video phone kiosk 100 andattempts to notify someone locally through the display and via thenetwork (most likely through e-mail) that the updates did not succeed.If the updates did succeed 1614, then control transfers to 900 (ref.FIG. 9) where the top level process loop takes over in a default stateof idle.

When the video phone kiosk 100 first starts in Idle state (see FIG. 9)the video phone kiosk 100 loads the first of the ad media 904 into theattractor and starts to display or play the ad media 906. Once the admedia display has finished 910, it will loop back and load the next adin the list and commence to play that ad until a user event 908 isencounter or it finishes that ad and continues to move on through the admedia list, loading 904 and playing 906 each one. Once the list hascompleted, the attractor starts back at the top of the list and loads904 and plays 906 each one again. The ad media itself can be composed ofeither still images, still images with audio, movie clips, stills withembedded movie clips, and so forth. The attractor can support many mediaformats which can include JPEG, TIFF, BMP, and PNG still images. Movingpicture formats can include MPEG2, AVI, Quicktime, Flash, Windows Media,Theora, H.263 and MPEG4. Audio formats can include WAV, AAC, MP3, andOGG. The attractor will display up to six copies of the same ad media atthe same time. This is accomplished through the use of simultaneousvideo streaming to display panels (104 and 110) located in the attractorthat receive same video stream as the main screen on the video phonekiosk.

As the ad media plays in the attractor 906, the customer application isalso looking for a user event 908. A user event falls into one of threecategories: 1) Proximity detection 2) Touch screen and 3) Keyboard/mouseevents. Proximity detection involves the use of proximity sensors (oneor more) 108 located on the attractor or the video phone kiosk 100. SeeFIGS. 2, 4, 6, and 8 for examples of proximity sensor 108 placement.When a customer walks within range of the proximity sensor(s) 108, ortouches the keyboard/mouse, or touches the screen on the video phonekiosk 100 an interrupt is triggered that alerts the customer application908 that a user event has just occurred 914. If for some reason a userevent interrupt is triggered and the event itself is not recognized asone of the valid events, then the customer application swallows theevent and continues on with the ad media display 906.

The customer application now moves into Active mode. The customerapplication checks to see if the main selection menu is up 916. If theattractor was running at the time the event occurred, then customerapplication will remember what ad media was running at the time and saveit for later. Then the customer application will display the mainselection menu 912 and acquire a selection from the customer 918. Nowthat the customer is engaged with the customer application, all futureinterrupts from the proximity sensor(s) 108, touch screen andkeyboard/mouse for the purpose of triggering a user event 908, will beignored till the customer application moves back into Idle state or thecustomer does not interact with the video phone kiosk 100 fast enough totrigger a timeout condition 902 and move the customer application backinto Idle state which started the attractor loading 904 and playing 906its list of ad media.

Once the customer has made a section through the touch screen and/orkeyboard, the customer application evaluates the selection. If theselection is for greeting cards 924, then control transfers to thegreeting card application 1400 (FIG. 14). If the selection is for videomail 922, then control transfers to the video mail application 1300(FIG. 13). If the selection is for the video phone 920 then controlpasses to the video phone application 1200 (FIG. 12). If the customermakes a selection that is not valid, the customer application willswallow the selection and do nothing while restarting the timeoutcounter. The timeout counter in this situation keeps the machine forwaiting forever for the customer to make a valid selection. For example,the customer could walk up to the kiosk, generating a person event, makean invalid selection on the keyboard and then walk away, leaving thekiosk is a wait state that it will not recover from. The timeoutcondition 902 forces the kiosk back into the Idle state if enough timehas passed since the last user event 908 took place. This way, the kioskis not inadvertently taken out of service for long periods of time.

Each of the three pay for services have a common feature at thebeginning Each requires that the customer's payment card has beencaptured and validated before allowing the customer to proceed with theservice selected. Before moving into a more detailed description of eachservice, the payment card capture process with be described.

Payment card capture for the video phone kiosk 100, involves determiningwhether or not the card proffered is one that can be used to pay for therequested service and to set payment limit that guarantees thetransaction will be covered with the funds from the card. There are anumber of electronic forms of payment that can be applied to the videophone kiosk, such as credit cards MasterCard®, VISA®, AMEX®, andDiscover®, to name a few, debit cards that are attached to creditnetworks such as Mastercard® and VISA®, stand alone debit cards, giftcards, and pre-pay cards. The previous list is by no means exhaustive,but is comprehensive enough that the video phone kiosks 100 that aretargeted to specific demographics where one or more forms of electronicpayment predominate do not exclude the video phone kiosk 100 fromproviding services to that demographic. The customer seeking theselected service will be asked to present one of the aforementionedpayment options 1002 (FIG. 10) in order to get the service started. Thecustomer may be presented with something as simple as a text basedrequest screen, or it can take the form of something very graphical asthe payment processing devices at retail and grocery stores that presentgraphical representations of payment cards or logos of specificelectronic payment options and services. Each type of electronic paymentbegins with the reading of a magnetic stripe card 1006. While anymagnetic striped card with the proper dimensions and stripe placementcan fit into the card reader, only those that adhere to a predetermineddata storage standard for financial transactions, for example, ISO 7810,7812, 7813 and ISO 4909, will have the most success at being read.

Once the magnetic stripe card has been read, the customer applicationhas to determine if this is the type of card that it can use to post afinancial charge to the attached merchant account 1010. If it is, thenthe card data is captured to the merchant account for the amount of theservice, or a pending minimum amount 1014. Once the merchant account hasverified the transaction as good 1018, then the customer application isgiven a financial transaction limit to monitor on the payment card 1022.If the limits do not exceed the financial value left on the paymentcard, in the case of debit, gift, pre-pay cards, or credit limit in thecase of network cards such as Mastercard®, VISA®, AMEX® and Discover®1024, then the process will return to caller, in this case, one of thethree pay for services selected.

If the payment card presented is not a card type that can be processed1010, then the customer application will inform the customer 1008 thatthe card presented is one the application cannot use. At this point, thecustomer is given the choice to present another card or type of card tocomplete the pending service request or they can cancel it all together1000. It is important to note here that a customer can cause the videophone kiosk 100 to suspend operations because they can continuallyinsert the same “bad” card, or a series of “bad” cards in the hopes ofbypassing the payment request. Also, if the customer abandon's the kioskin the middle of the transaction request, the video phone kiosk 100could be made to wait “forever” for the interaction to continue. Forthese operational reasons and to keep the kiosk from pausing forextended periods of time, two event managers handle these possibilities.The first is a timeout sequence is attached to this process, so that ifthe customer abandons the video phone kiosk in the middle satisfying thepayment request, that after a predetermined interval of inactivity, theprocess will automatically kill the pending transaction, set the badtransaction flag 1018 and return back to 916 for top level processing.

The second event manager is a retry limiter. Each time the customer usesa payment card to address the payment request, the retry counter willdecrement towards zero. Once the customer has used up the predeterminednumber of retries allowed 1004, then the process will inform thecustomer that it cannot process their request 1012, as the paymentcard(s) presented could not be used with the attached merchant accountto complete the transaction. The customer application will then kill thepending transaction, set the bad transaction flag 1016 and return to 916for top level processing.

Moving on to the Greeting Card process loop (ref. FIG. 14), the customerapplication will check to see if the payment card has been captured1400. If not, then the customer application will attempt to capture thecard information (as described previously) before displaying theGreeting Card application, otherwise the Greeting Card application isdisplayed to the customer.

The Greeting Card application is a bit different than the other twoservices, video phone call and video mail. The reason for this, is thatthe customer will not actually create a real greeting card they willpull from the video phone kiosk 100, but instead, will specify what itwill eventually become. A fulfillment house will receive the paidrequest and actually create and mail the physical card to the recipient.

When the application is displayed, the customer is asked to positionthemselves in front of the camera and to press the spacebar or touch ahot spot on the touch screen when their picture, as composed on thescreen, looks the way they like. If the picture did not turn out to thecustomer's satisfaction, then they have the opportunity to retake thepicture up to several times to “get it right” before moving on to thecard stock. Besides the use of the touch screen or the keyboard thecustomer can select the use of a timer, so they can stand away from thevideo phone kiosk 100 to either crop the picture smaller, or pose in away that is prevented by standing close enough to touch the keyboard orthe screen.

Once the picture has been taken, the customer is given the choice ofwhat kind of greeting card they wish to use. Again, the customer ispresented with a number of options that are monitored with eventmanagers to prevent stalling the machine due to incorrect input,indecisiveness on the part of the customer, or the customer abandons thekiosk entirely. The card stock itself is presented as a scaled image ofthe actual card that the user can select from a graphical list. Adescription of the card stock, type of paper, physical size, price, andany provided prose will be listed as part of the selection process. Thecustomer can navigate this list from end to end using the touch screen,the keyboard or the mouse. For video phone kiosks 100 that contain alarge number of choices the card stock list will be broken up intological categories that the customer can select first to narrow theoptions to a manageable level.

Once the customer has selected the type of card they wish to use, theapplication presents them with an opportunity to select and/or createprose to go on the card. If the customer selects to create prose for thecard, then the application will ask the customer to use the keyboard toenter in what they wish to say. Again as before, event managers willmanage this entry portion of the application to prevent stalling due toabandonment and/or malformed or bad data entry.

Next, the customer can select from a number of scents in order toperfume the card and envelope for the recipient.

Lastly, the customer is prompted for the recipient's mailing address,and if the customer desires, their sending address (typically a home orwork address). The sending address can be any address the customerwishes to provide. Normally, an application like this will focus on thelocal geographic region it is designed to service, so mailing addresseswill assume to follow local post office addressing conventions. TheGreeting Card application will allow for addressing to be sent anywherein the world there is a postal service and addressing that is recognizedby the United States Postal Service (USPS). Charges for internationalmail will be charged to the customer's payment card from an internallystored rate table that is derived from the USPS.

Once the recipients address has been acquired, the customer is asked ifthey are ready to send their card 1408. If they do not wish to send thecard, then the customer application abandons the greeting card, plus itsinformation and returns back to 916 for top level menu processing.

If the customer does wish to send the card then the application checksthe transaction limits to make sure they have not been exceeded. If theyhave not, then the application will process the payment prior to sendingthe card. For the condition where the transaction limits have beenexceeded, the application will alert the customer that the cost of thecard is more than they have payment ready for, and they will need toeither reduce the number of items they want to use on the card (likescent), select a less expensive card, or cancel the transaction. If thecustomer cancels the transaction, then the greeting card and paymenttransaction are abandoned and control is returned to 916 for top levelprocessing. If the customer wishes to rearrange the greeting card to fitthe available charge limit, then the application will allow them to makechanges to reduce the costs.

Once the payment is processed, the application combines the informationit as gleaned from the customer into an e-mail that is sent to afulfillment center for processing 1406. The fulfillment center willprint the prose and color image on the card, plus apply any scent toboth the card and the envelope, print the mailing address, and mail thecard out to the recipient.

Only one greeting card can be created at a time; however, once the firstcard has been created, the customer will be given the choice createanother card 1412 and to recycle previous information and images fromthe first card. For example, a customer desires to create Mother's Daycards for their mother, their spouse's mother, the couple's respectivegrandmothers, and the customer's sister. After creating the first cardwith an image grab of the customer and their spouse, the customer canchoice to use that photograph, any prose selected or created, scent, andthat card stock to create multiple cards that are personalized to eachindividual receiving one. The application “remembers” the last set ofchoices for the customer during the greeting card application session.Once the customer leaves the application for another service or to quit,the greeting card application “forgets” the information it received fromthe customer.

When video mail is selected (ref. FIG. 13) from the top level processloop, control passes to 1300 where the customer application checks tosee if there is a captured payment card. If not, then control passes to1002 where the payment card is captured prior displaying the video mailapplication 1302. If the card has been captured, then the customerapplication goes right to the video mail application and displays it.

The video mail application is rather simplistic compared to the otherservices, as the options are few. To create the video mail 1304, thecustomer is asked for the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s). Forthe initial embodiment, the customer application will require that thecustomer enter in the e-mail addresses through the keyboard or by usingthe touch screen. Later embodiments will use flash drives, jump drivesand other kinds of portable media to pull in an address book and allowthe customer to select from the list of recipients.

Once the recipients have been entered, the customer is asked to adjustthemselves in front of the camera and to press the record button on thetouch screen, or a pre-defined key on the key board to start therecording. First embodiment of the recording does nothing to embellishthe environment around the customer. The recipient will see the customerand a portion of the environment where they stood to make the recording.A preferred embodiment will allow for a screen or projection treatmentbackground that “places” the user in some location they can select(Hawaii, Paris, London, Mountains, Ocean, etc.). The background will beprovided by a number of means including: A) a physical back drop behindthe customer; B) a flat screen that displays a still or moving imagebehind the customer; C) a reflective surface behind the customer thatreflects a projected still or moving image or; D) a chroma key backdropbehind the user that is combined with a still or moving image the userselects to replace that color in the final rendering. Early embodimentswill provide the “environments” the customer can select from. Laterimprovements will allow the customer to provide their own still andmoving images to create their “environment” to be used with the videomail.

When the recording is finished, the customer is given the option toreview the recording to see if they like the results. If they want torecord it again, the application will let them redo the video mail up toa predetermined number of times before cutting off the re-do's. Thisprevents the customer from monopolizing the video phone kiosk 100,especially in high traffic and busy areas.

If the customer likes the recording, they are given the option to sendit or quit. If they choose to quit, then control passes to 916 for toplevel processing, otherwise the cost of the video mail is checkedagainst the transaction limits 1310. If the transaction limits areexceeded, then the customer is given the option to reduce the cost ofthe video mail or quit. If they chose to quit, then control is passedback to 916 for top level processing, otherwise control is passed backto 1304 where the customer can create a less expensive video mail.

If the transaction limits are not exceeded, then the application appliesthe charges to the merchant account/bank for the payment card 1800 (ref.FIG. 18), and the video mail is sent to the designated recipient(s)1306. The customer is given the opportunity to create another video mail1312. If they choose to do so, then control is passed back to 1304,otherwise control is passed back to 916 for top level processing.

Payment card processing is handled in a straight forward manner by thecustomer application. When the customer application needs to process anactual payment to the merchant account/bank, then control is passed to1800 which contacts the electronic merchant account interface and poststhe transaction for clearance. It should be noted, that prior toprocessing a payment card of any type, the payment card needs to becaptured, otherwise there is insufficient information to clear atransaction and the posting will fail every time.

Once the payment is posted and cleared, the customer is then asked ifthey want to receive a receipt by e-mail or by fax. If the customerchooses to receive their receipt by fax, then the customer is asked forthe fax number to deliver the fax to. It should be noted at this pointthat fax delivery is limited to certain geographies due to the servicecoverage. The customer's fax number is checked against the providedcoverage area, and if there is a problem, they will be offered deliveryof receipt by e-mail. If the fax number is within the coverage area,then the receipt is faxed right then so the customer can “see” the faxbeing delivered. Once the fax is delivered, the application returns tocaller.

If the customer chooses initially to deliver their receipt by e-mail,the application will ask for a valid e-mail address and deliver thereceipt to that e-mail address before returning to caller. It should benoted that is all cases, e-mail receipts are automatically generated toa company e-mail address where these copies are held for audit and incase the customer did not receive their receipt, they can contactcustomer support and receive a copy of their transaction.

When video call is selected from the top level process loop, controlpasses to 1212 (FIG. 12) where the customer application checks to see ifthere is a captured payment card.

If not, then control passes to 1002 where the payment card is capturedprior displaying the video call application 1200. If the card has beencaptured, then the customer application goes right to the video callapplication and displays it 1200.

The video call application provides a simple set of features designed tosupport both the causal and the business customer. Of note, the videocall application will allow video optional calls, audio only calls, SS7signaling support, 3-way calling, plus simple video and/or audioconferencing up to 6 people—depending on the bandwidth and phonefeatures designated for the particular video phone kiosk 100 inquestion. Early embodiments do not have a phone directory, but laterfeature enhancements will include the ability for a customer to insertsome form of mobile media, (jump drive, flash drive, flash cards,CD-ROM, etc) and import their phone directory for use during that videophone session. Future enhancements will also include a localized phonedirectory for both business and residential listings, so a customer doesnot have to find a phone book, or leave the application to get a phonenumber.

Once the video phone application is displayed, the customer is asked forthe phone number they wish to dial 1202. Once the phone number isacquired from the customer, the phone number is run against the ratetable for pricing 1100 (ref. FIG. 11).

To accomplish this, the rate table is read 1100 in from the rate table1102 stored internal to the video phone kiosk 100. Next the phone numberprovided is decomposed into country code (if applicable), area/regioncode, NPA-NXX (if US/Canada number). US/Canada rate tables are typicallypriced on area code boundaries and city populations within those areacodes. For example, a tier 1 city is typically a city or location with100,000 or more residents and typically has a profession sports teamsuch as NFL, NBA. International rates are queued based on the type ofservice (cell, landline, etc.) and the region code. The provided phonenumber is compared 1104 against the rate table for a matching entry. Ifthere is a match, then the rate is considered valid 1106 and controlpasses to 1206 to check for a good transaction, otherwise the badtransaction flag gets set and the control passes to 1206.

If the phone number could not be rated and thus triggered a badtransaction, the customer is informed that the video phone kiosk 100cannot dial the phone number provided, and gives then the option toenter a new one or quit. If the customer chooses to quit, then controlpasses to 916 for top level processing. If the customer chooses to entera new phone number, the control passes back to 1202 to acquire a newphone number.

If the phone number is rated, then the video call software makes thephone call 1204 and connects the customer to the receiving party. Oncethe call starts, a parallel process accumulates per minutes charges on atimer 1214. The accumulated charges are compared against the transactionlimits 1210 for the payment card at the same time. As the charges getwithin an estimated 3 minutes of transaction limits charges, the videocall is interrupted with an audio message informing the customer thatthey need to end the call as the available funds will not permit thecall to continue for more than 2 more minutes. The warning is repeated a2 minutes left, then 1:30, before shutting off the phone call with 1minute remaining against the transaction limit.

Once the phone call is terminated, the charges are posted against themerchant account 1800 (FIG. 18), and the customer application turnscontrol back over to 916 for top level processing. If the transactionlimits have not been reached, then the customer is given the opportunityto make another call against the current billing. If the customerchooses to do so, then the video phone application cycles back to 1202(FIG. 12) to ask for a new number to dial and loops from there,otherwise, any outstanding charges are posted against the merchantaccount and control turns back over to 916 for top level processing.

It should be noted that, as previously mentioned, customer interactionswith a kiosk can be via many modes such as a keypad, mouse, touchscreen, voice recognition, etc.

Referring next to FIGS. 25, 26 a video phone kiosk 1900 has optionalfeatures including a security camera 2500 which can pan the surroundingsusing a revolving camera 2501.

An internal receipt printer 2510 can provide transaction receipts 2512out the receipt dispenser 2511. The biometric keyboard 2000 is integralwith the video phone kiosk pedestal 1904 to prevent theft. The mousefunctions are done on the keyboard 2000 to prevent theft of a mouse. Thebill acceptor 1966 can be used to pay for calls.

The flowchart (FIG. 26) shows the security camera signal 2600 sent tothe kiosk computer(s) 2601 which could have security software for fastmovement or weapon identification. A select command 2603 sends the videodigital signal to a selected site such as a police computer 2604 and/ora mall security computer 2605. Although the present invention has beendescribed with reference to preferred embodiments, numerousmodifications and variations can be made and still the result will comewithin the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to thespecific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.Each apparatus embodiment described herein has numerous equivalents.

1. A video phone kiosk comprising: an enclosure panel having an exteriorsegment with advertising; said advertising having a video spooling ofcontent; a system computer controlling a video phone and the videopooling; said video phone having a camera in the kiosk; said camerahaving a field of vision to capture an area adjacent a user when theuser is seated on a chair in the kiosk; a user data entry device for thesystem computer; a system authentication module to verify a useridentity; a user demographic data collection module; an audio phonecall, video phone call and video mail modules(s) all controlled by thesystem computer; an electronic payment module controlled by the systemcomputer; a voice and video over internet communications (VoIP) linkcontrolled by the system computer; and wherein the user can be seated,arrange a group of people adjacent himself, select a video phone callafter proper authentication, send a video call of the group via VOW, andcharge the call on his credit card.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe system computer activates a display of the ongoing cost of a call inprogress.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system computerprovides an electronic greeting card and/or printed greeting cardfulfillment module.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a touch screeninteracts with the system computer to initiate a standardized message.5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a senior citizenemergency contact database, a calling circle, a credit limit, a personalphoto, a senior access card and a senior care center access code.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5 further comprising a voice recognition controlmodule.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system computerprovides a link via VOIP to a financial trading broker, a flash cardinput, a printer, and wherein the electronic payment module enablefinancial transactions.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the systemcomputer further comprises a wireless support module with an antenna. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the kiosk further comprises a usersensor mat which activates the system computer.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 2 further comprising a warning module alerting the user a prepaidtime allotment is expiring.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising a photo background creation module wherein a chosenbackground is visible on a screen before a video call is initiated. 12.The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a receipt printer.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 1 further comprising a remote maintenance updatemodule to enable new hardware, troubleshoot the kiosk and updatesoftware in the system computer.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe remote maintenance module further comprises an advertising updatemodule.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the advertising updatemodule further comprises a multi-kiosk control module.
 16. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the system computer further comprises an inputmodule for a phone directory.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theuser data entry device further comprises a fingerprint reader, atrackball and mouse buttons.
 18. The apparatus of claim 2 furthercomprising a security camera focused away from the kiosk and connectedto the system computer.
 19. A video phone kiosk comprising: anelectronically controlled externally facing panel; a system computercontrolling the advertising panel, a CRT, a printer, a data entrykeyboard, a CD/DVD reader/writer, a flash card reader, and a credit cardreader; a receipt printer; a communications module controlled by thesystem computer and having a VOIP line which supplies a video phoneline, a voice line, and an internet connection; a wireless module withan antenna connected to the communications module; a video cameraconnected to the communications module; a timer/alarm module forindicating prepaid calls and their time remaining; a remote maintenancemodule including advertising updates for the advertising panel; andwherein the communications module further comprises a custom backgroundcreation module.